Pat Hanson is a founding principal of gh3*, a Toronto-based architecture, landscape, and urban design practice recognized for its clarity, precision, and integration of natural and built form. Raised in a Norwegian-Italian farming community near Regina, Saskatchewan, she developed an early affinity for making and exploring the outdoors before studying fine art and later discovering architecture at the University of Manitoba.
After graduating, Hanson moved to Toronto in the early 1980s and began her career at Jack Diamond’s office, where she advanced to associate before co-founding her first practice. In 2005, she established gh3*, which has since become one of Canada’s most acclaimed design firms. The studio’s work bridges architecture and landscape, emphasizing civic engagement, material expression, and environmental sensitivity.
Hanson’s notable projects include the Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton, Toronto’s Cherry Street Stormwater Facility, the Boathouse Studio on Stony Lake, and June Callwood Park. Her leadership has earned gh3* multiple Governor General’s Medals in Architecture and national recognition for innovation in public and infrastructure design.
A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Hanson has lectured widely and contributed to academic and professional discourse across North America. She is also a supporter of equity in practice, having advised organizations such as BEAT (Building Equality in Architecture Toronto).
Outside of architecture, Hanson maintains a lifelong discipline of daily running, travel, and immersion in nature—an extension of the curiosity and focus that continue to shape her approach to design.
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